NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES
MAY 18, 2013
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – WINNER
THEY SAY GREAT ATHLETES RISE TO THE OCCASION TO WIN THE BIG EVENTS. SO HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO WHAT NO OTHER DRIVERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO IN HISTORY?
“That’s crazy. Gosh, to beat Jeff (Gordon) and (Dale) Earnhardt (Sr.), two guys that I’ve looked up to my whole life and two massive icons of our sport, this means the world to me. I really didn’t think we had a shot at winning tonight, starting 20th. But we had a great race car and worked our way through there and got the job done. Over time, honestly, it’s just dedication and drive from every member of Hendrick Motorsports, and every member on this No. 48 team. We’re very proud of what we’ve done and what we’ve accomplished, but we know we’ve got to keep pushing harder and keep pushing one another and we did it again here tonight. I don’t know how we keep doing it. I’m very proud of this race team.”
RICK HENDRICK LEANED INTO THE CAR TO SAY SOMETHING TO YOU. WHAT DID HE SAY TO YOU? DID YOU MAKE THE MOTION TO GET HIM ON THE CAR AGAIN, AND DID HE SAY, ‘NO WAY’?
“I didn’t really hear him because the engine was running. But when I was talking to DW (Darrell Waltrip) on my way in, we talked about Rick not being on the door. And so I thought this was the perfect opportunity for him to ride a very short distance, a safe distance, but he turned it down. It would have been fun to do it. But, it is just a huge night for my entire fan base. I want to thank Sprint for their great support of our entire industry and our sport and this event tonight. I want to thank our great sponsor, Lowe’s, and Kolbalt Tools, Chevrolet and my family.”
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FOURTH
YOU GUYS HAD LANE CHOICE ON THE FRONT ROW, WHAT HAPPENED THE FINAL TEN LAPS?
“Well, I would say my pit crew did a great job of getting us out first. I was a little tight the run before and we didn’t have time to fix it because we wanted to get out first and knew if we could get clean air we thought we would be alright with our Farmers Chevy. Jimmie just stayed right there and I couldn’t get rid of him and then he beat me off the corner and into three and kind of on exit and it was over after that. I was tight and fell back to fourth but the pit crew did great, it was a great run for us, we tried hard and just a little too much bouncing off cars to have a car capable of running with him at the end.”
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/SEALY CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED FIFTH
I KNOW YOU DIDN’T GET THE WIN, BUT WHAT DO THEY SAY THEY KNEW YOU WERE HERE:
“Yeah, that is definitely the case. Winning a couple of segments in the All-Star Race is nothing to be disappointed about. You always want more and when you lose to a guy like Jimmie Johnson, a five-time champion, Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson, crew chief) those guys they were just perfect again. We were just one click slow on pit stop and one click off on the final adjustment. We came out fifth and got stuck in a little bit of that traffic. I thought we could race our way into that. We weren’t perfect tonight, but overall happy Armed Forces day. With them on board it always gives us inspiration to run strong and just if you see a military member thank them for their service.”
YOU GUYS HAD A FANTASTIC CAR BUT JUST GOT BEAT ON PIT ROAD ON THAT FINAL STOP:
“You know, to win some segments and to be in position with the All-Star race and the way it is, it shows the full strength of this team. Even though we were running 20 laps at a time, it still makes you proud to race for these guys. They put me in position with the best average finish through the first four segments but we were just a shade slow on pit road and maybe a shade off on that last adjustment because I couldn’t race back through traffic. Even if we came out first, it would have been tough to hold those guys off.”
I HEARD YOU SAY THAT THE CAR WAS STARTING TO PLOW:
“Yeah, a little bit tight and therefore, you are just trying to translate to them what that last change did and you just roll with it because it’s a million bucks going out the window but we are building our notebook up for Charlotte and the 600 next week.”
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FOUNDATION CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED EIGHTH
YOU WON THE SHOWDOWN AND HAD A SOLID FINISH IN THE ALL-STAR RACE TELL US ABOUT YOUR NIGHT:
“Really happy with our car. I think if we ever could have gotten to the front, probably like most people, our car was extremely fast. It’s just really tough in traffic, but overall we had a good car.”
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CARES CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 20TH
ON HER RACE:
“First and very foremost, thank you to all the fans who voted for me or maybe voted so many times for me. I’m very fortunate to have the fan base that I do, and I never forget that. It really just makes me feel bad to win the Sprint Fan Vote and run in the back of the race. We just couldn’t get the GoDaddy Cares Chevrolet right. We were just too tight. The guys did a great job on pit road. That goes without saying. It was just a tough night, but hopefully we are able to figure out what was wrong and we can come back here next weekend and have a better run.”
